One Thing That I Don't See Talked About As Much Is Mami's Dependant-related Personality. Of Course There's

One thing that I don't see talked about as much is Mami's dependant-related personality. Of course there's the stuff with her wanting Madoka to become a magical girl and join her (which is the obvious one), but there's also her relationship with Bebe in Rebellion and her witch Candeloro.

Mami feels a NEED to be the "responsible" and "dependable" type, highlighted by how she takes care of Bebe like she's her mother (all the pictures she has with Bebe really look like family photos to me). This is juxstaposed by her witch form Candeloro, who is tiny and carried around by familiars that look like the rest of the holy quintet.

Mami really wants to be "carried", to be weak, to depend on others, and to be selfish. She's isn't bad for this; her circumstances are tragic, and she didn't even really get to choose her wish. Because she's older and has more experience than the other girls, she feels like she HAS to be the rock of the team.

Most of all, she simply doesn't want to be alone. She's lost so many people she's loved, and the chance of having other people around again for once gives her so much joy she can't help but try to push Madoka and Sayaka into becoming magical girls. And unfortunately, that was her doom in the main-series timeline. I find it bittersweet that she died at her most happy; on one hand she felt hopeful and unalone, but on the other hand she never got to see and fight alongside Madoka and Sayaka.

In a sense, Homura is the "audience" that dictates who gets the spotlight while the incubators are the "directors" who decide what that spotlight entails.

Madoka is the center of Homura's everything (time travel, attention, affection, ect) and therefore she becomes the center of the universe too.

Madoka being the protagonist of the story just further cements that Homura's timeloop could never have worked. No matter what, Madoka would always be in the spotlight, she could never be just a normal person, not after this.

Unlike other magical girls, Nagisa's magical girl outfit is super casual and cute (to the point it's hardly even a magical girl costume). It feels like such a perfect representation of her; like she's wearing fun clothes she normally can't.

"Whoopsie daisy we accidentally said it was the birthday of a character with an unconfirmed birthday 🤭🤪"

Nonono you just gave her a birthday no take backs.

Fuck Aniplex 5/9 her official birthday now I decree it as such

The "faux justice" part of Sayaka is my favourite part of her character, and I definitely failed to convey it in the og post lol.

I think ever since her talk with Mami about being careful about who and what you wish for, Sayaka definitely started to delude herself about her intentions.

She became a literal white knight for Kyousuke, and felt so much entitlement to him it drove her crazy especially when she pushed aside her feelings and still refused to see her own misdoings. When deciding on her wish, she only considered wishing for others (adding to that selfless justice persona).

Her Witchifications are absolutely more than just boy-crazy. I like using Kyousuke as a symbolic object for Sayaka's mental state and characterization, but I failed in my original post to convey the idea I had.

It's mentioned that in every timeline Sayaka contracts and becomes a magical girl, she becomes Oktavia.

I think this says a lot about Sayaka's mental state. Even if Hitomi doesn't confess to Kyousuke, even if Sayaka and Kyousuke were to date, Sayaka would still become Oktavia.

Maybe it's a case of regretting what she wished for, or falling out of love with Kyousuke, or that her relationship with Kyousuke didn't work out how she had wanted it to. Regardless, something always goes wrong when she makes her wish; and I find that very fascinating.

Something I find really neat and subtle amoung Madoka Magica's (many) foreshadowing and narrative contrast-y moments is Mami's fight against Gertrud.

Gertrud has a strong flower and butterfly motif, and Mami's soul gem is shaped like a flower (and maybe a stretch but in one of Mami's transformations she does an action that resembles a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis).

I think there's some parallels between the two that make Gertrud a surprisingly clever and well designed first enemy. (But perhaps I'm stuck in Mami fan mode, and just see Mami in everything)